A Sustainable Life. Make Magick.

ReFashion 2015: The Rock Star Cape

Its Thrifty Thursday and the Gone Thrifting Crew is having a Rock Star moment or theme this week! Can you guess who my Rock Star is!? None other then Goddess Janelle Monae! Golly I Love that woman! Talented, gorgeous, fresh, an amazing artist and she has impeccable style. This is of course also a ReFashion, because there’s got to be a ReFashion 2015 Project.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Janelle Monae is a divine creature who fuses Soul, R&B, Good ole Fashion Rock and Roll with Pop and manages to make it all seem so very fresh and new…. The first time I saw her in concert, there has only been one time thus far but many more to come as far as I’m concerned, she rocked a cape. She did this stellar number to a James Brown tune, complete with James Brown theatrics and I knew she was one of the most amazing people on earth. Talent and impeccable style. Here’s a sampling of her on an off stage style!

Back to ReFashioning! Below is a pictorial on the steps I took to transform a thrifted Ulla Popken lined tweed skirt that my mother actually found for me, and transformed into a boxy cape. The inspiration for which is here.

The first part of the process essentially was removing the waist band. I cut off a few inches of the fairly long skirt from the waist down to leave an intact hem. Then I separated the waistband to use as banding for the arm holes. I measured against my neck to determine how much space I needed for my collar and sewed up the remainder. I then shaped that closure to create a rounded shoulder. Once that was done I tried on the cape in process to better determine where I would cut out my arm holes. Once those things were complete I moved on to finishing.

Next in the process was attaching the simple skirt lining with top closure modifications. I cut the arm holes in the lining after sewing in lining and before creating the arm hole banding. It was a pretty simple project and for the most part I am happy with it. I installed a zipper closure, but did not do a great job. Plus I think I will go back and adjust some of the shaping. I was totally going for 80s alternative Denise Huxtable, but its a little too boxy. But for now, I’ll Rock my Inner Janelle Monae!